Mount Carmel's Joraskie gives verbal commitment to Northwestern

LARRY DEKLINSKI/TIMES - SHAMROCK PHOTO
Mount Carmel's Eric Joraskie (77) and Cody Kehler (1) rush North Schuylkill quarterback Ryan Henning during a game last season. Joraskie has made a verbal commitment to continue his academic and football careers in the Big Ten at Northwestern University.

MOUNT CARMEL - Mount Carmel football player Eric Joraskie, who will be a senior for the Red Tornadoes this season, has reportedly given a verbal commitment to play at Northwestern University.

According to a report in the Bloomsburg Press-Enterprise, Joraskie reportedly told PurpleWildcats.com, a website devoted to Northwestern sports, that he gave a commitment after an unofficial visit to the campus Tuesday.

Joraskie, who had 70 tackles, including nine sacks, three pass breakups and a fumble recovery in Mount Carmel's 12-1 season in 2011, also had offers from Syracuse, Purdue, Pittsburgh, Boston College, Rutgers, Kent State, Maryland and Vanderbilt. At 6-foot-4, 260 pounds, he is projected as a defensive lineman.

He also started on the offensive line and helped Mount Carmel produce two 1,000-yard rushers in a season for the first time since 1970. Joraskie was an Associated Press Class AA first-team all-state pick.

Joraskie said he had also visited Pitt, Syracuse and Maryland, and that each school had lots to offer.

"I liked all of them," he said. "But before I even started the process I had said that Northwestern

was a school I would consider because of its combination of academics and athletics. Then when I visited, everything was perfect. The people were great, the campus was beautiful."

Northwestern's incoming freshman players were on campus and Joraskie spent some time with Adam DiPietro, a Lancaster Catholic player who played against the Red Tornadoes in the state playoffs last year.

"All of the incoming freshmen were high character people," Joraskie said. "They all seemed like people you'd want to be around."

Mount Carmel head coach Carm DeFrancesco said that for all of Joraskie's football ability, he was interested in the academic aspect of the schools first.

"He's so concerned about academics," DeFrancesco said. "That's the way his family is and the way he was raised. He really had a tough choice. He had some really good schools to choose from. Purdue was really after him. Vanderbilt, Maryland, Rutgers, they're all great schools."

DeFrancesco said he thought Joraskie might be swayed by Northwestern.

"When I talked to him, he said he loved the campus, and I knew he would," he said.

"I just absolutely loved everything about (Northwestern), there's not a better place I've been," Joraskie was quoted by the website. "It has a beautiful campus, high-end academics, high-end football, has a small-town feel. Evanston is a great town and still has all the opportunities of Chicago. The people were the best part. Everything you'd want is there."

Joraskie has not settled on a major yet.

"I just know that they're ranked 11th overall in the country for academics, so no matter what I choose it should be OK," Joraskie said. "I've kind of thought about physical therapy or athletic training because I like to work out a lot, but I'm not sure yet."

DeFrancesco said Joraskie's combination of size, athletic and academic ability made him well sought after by recruiters.

"I had a coach from Syracuse in here to look at film and he stopped it about 20 seconds in. I thought something must be wrong and he said, no, he'd already seen enough. He said Eric had the best stance he'd ever seen from a high school lineman," DeFrancesco said.

"There was a play he made against Selinsgrove that all the coaches talked about. He got chop blocked, got back up to his feet real quickly and blocked a pass with a great vertical leap," DeFrancesco said. "That's what those guys are looking for, that combination of being a terrific athlete with size."

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